Ambiguity, Coping, and Governance: Israeli Experiences in Politics, Religion, and Policymaking.(Review) (book review)

By Ira Sharkansky. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1999. 216p. $59.95.

This is a book about ambiguity as a policy tool; its message is that ambiguity is pervasive and that it works. The author not only analyzes but also unambiguously advocates ambiguity. This mechanism is portrayed as a mode of coping with problems rather than solving them. Whenever issues are contentious and the demands of various parties are irreconcilable, the search for an overall solution is futile. By contrast, "the fog of ambiguity ... facilitates agreement" (p. 11).

Sharkansky follows in the tradition ...

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